Page 38 - Encyclopedia of the Unusual and Unexplained Vol. 3

18 Ghosts and Phantoms

“Poltergeist” movie. (THE Steinour, Harold. Exploring the Unseen World. New people, is attributed to the destructive impulse
KOBAL COLLECTION) York: Citadel Press, 1959. of a fragmented psyche to another.
Stevens, William Oliver. Unbidden Guests. New York: According to many contemporary psychi-
Dodd, Mead & Co., 1957. cal researchers poltergeist manifestations are
Tyrrell, G. N. M. Apparitions. New York: Collier dramatic instances of psychokinesis (PK) (the
Books, 1963. mind influencing matter) on the rampage.
Although the pranks of the poltergeist were
formerly attributed to malicious tricks perpe-
Poltergeists trated by demons and disembodied spirits, the
The perverse talents of the poltergeist (Ger- great majority of psychical researchers today
man for “pelting or throwing ghost”) range hold that some faculty of PK is at work. “The
from the ability to toss pebbles and smash poltergeist is not a ghost,” the psychoanalyst
vases, to the astonishing ability to materialize Dr. Nandor Fodor once wrote, “but a bundle
human or beastlike entities, complete with of projected repressions.”
voices, intelligent responses, and disagreeable Quite probably, according to many
odors. From humankind’s earliest records to researchers, the sex changes that occur during
today’s newspaper story, every reported polter- puberty have a great deal to do with the pecu-
geist case follows the same basic patterns. Cul- liar type of PK that is responsible for poltergeist
tural influences seem to matter little, if at all. activity. Researchers have only begun to realize
A poltergeist manifestation is similar in char- some of the vast chemical changes that take
acter whether it takes place in Indonesia, Ice- place in the body during adolescence. Who can
land, or Long Island. Only the interpretation say what may happen in the lower levels of the
of the disturbance varies. What is attributed subconscious? Psychical researchers have noted
to the destructive impulse of a demon to one that more often a girl than a boy is at the center

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